JEBalles Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 My front right axle failed today as I was taking a left hand turn and promptly stopped accelerating and heard an awful grinding noise. I checked it out and it looks like the problem is with the splines on the hub end since the axle and hub do not move together. Now, in my experience, if splines fail, it trashes the splines on both components. Has this happened to anyone? I think the axle has been replaced at some point, and the car only has 110,000 miles on it. I'm hesitant to take it apart since it's already torqued and I could just slice the shaft with an angle grinder and drive around in 4wd until I have the resources to fix this issue. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superpoo93 Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 (edited) Uh..... No. Do not cut shaft and drive in 4wd. If it was a dire circumstance... In the middle of nowhere with Zombies at your heels ....then yes! Everyday for who knows how long before you have the $$ NO! You will end up with more problems than you bargained for and spending more $$ to fix. You need to save the cash and get a new rebuilt axle, good used hub, and "new" washer/come set. Spounds like the axle nut was loose for a while. Oh! You need to tell everyone what your and model your car is, any mods?? Info... Info.... Maybe someone has something they could sell you. Edited June 24, 2014 by superpoo93 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JEBalles Posted June 24, 2014 Author Share Posted June 24, 2014 No mods, year and model are in the title. The axle nut was coming loose before and I replaced the bearings since they seemed compromised and it tightened everything up, although the castle nut did come loose once more after I had replaced the bearings. Retorqued it and everything was fine until now. Upon further research, it seems like it might have been due to a grooved cone washer. I didn't replace it, nor did I inspect it since I didn't know that was necessary at the time. I have cut the shaft and driven in 4wd before. It survived two three hour trips, as well as miscellaneous hilly city trips, and I didn't even think to take it easy. I figure it'd be alright for a couple weeks if I go easy on it. The last time, however, the splines were fine, so that's what is a potential worry for me this time, not so much the rear wheel drive components. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superpoo93 Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 Ooooops I'm stoooopid!! Missed the title .. I dunno about running it in 4wd. It's going to break something... If it was a rear axle, you could run it in fwd all day long, but front... Your diff has to be screaming. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but it's not a good idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superpoo93 Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 (edited) My front right axle failed today as I was taking a left hand turn and promptly stopped accelerating and heard an awful grinding noise. I checked it out and it looks like the problem is with the splines on the hub end since the axle and hub do not move together. Now, in my experience, if splines fail, it trashes the splines on both components. Has this happened to anyone? I think the axle has been replaced at some point, and the car only has 110,000 miles on it. I'm hesitant to take it apart since it's already torqued and I could just slice the shaft with an angle grinder and drive around in 4wd until I have the resources to fix this issue. Any thoughts? Check this out http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/118112-axle-nut-failure-point-reachedat-45mphhelp/ Edited June 24, 2014 by superpoo93 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 Ooooops I'm stoooopid!! Missed the title .. I dunno about running it in 4wd. It's going to break something... If it was a rear axle, you could run it in fwd all day long, but front... Your diff has to be screaming. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but it's not a good idea. Your being cautious, and that's good....but driving in RWD is fine. I towed 1000 lb trailer from eastern Montana to Oregon when my front axle broke on a road trip. I would not just cut the shaft out.......just leave it in and leave the car in 4wd. Or take just the outer joint end from another axle and shove it through the hub, bolt it in. You just don't want a cut axle shaft whipping around as the tires rotate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JEBalles Posted June 24, 2014 Author Share Posted June 24, 2014 (edited) Yeah, I suppose that would have been fine. My original thinking was to cut the axle so it wouldn't be forced to rotate at a different speed than the wheel like would normally happen when driving with 4wd on dry pavement in order to not further destroy the splines. This was why I did this last time since I had to use my old axle since the one I ordered didn't fit and I didn't want to use the old axle again, but in this case the splines are already beyond use, so it wouldn't have mattered. In any case, I already cut the shaft. I made sure to cut it as close to the hub as possible. I cut the boot off and cut the shaft almost at the splined end that goes into the cage (pic). I think that should be fine, it won't be hitting anything and has little rotational inertia, so it should probably just rotate with the wheel. That being said, I took it for a test drive and heard some noises coming from the wheel as I went over bumps. I didn't feel it through the car, and nothing feels loose if I jack the car up and tug at the wheel, so that makes me think it might just be what's left of the shaft and cage moving around. I don't think I should have much to worry about. Edited June 24, 2014 by JEBalles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.